The Phantom of the Ministry
by hogwartsgrl15
Summary: In the ministry, Hermione is captivated by a mysterious man's power. Now, as he threatens the ministry to do what ever he pleases, Hermione is also finding love for another man in her life.
1. Chapter 1: Meeting the Mysterious Man

Ok, this is my second fanfic (YAY) so enjoy

THIS IS A FAN PUBLICATION SO IF ANY OF YOU READING MY STORY ARE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA PEOPLE (or even worse… Andrew Lloyd Webber), DON'T SUE ME!

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Hermione woke up groggily. It was a cold December morning about three weeks before Christmas. She rolled over in her bed and looked at the alarm clock. It read 5:30 AM.

"Oh my god." She mumbled. "Can't I just sleep for five more minutes?"

But she knew that the answer would and always would be no. Her boss, Cornelius Fudge was always strict about timing. She always arrived to work on time and ready for the day ahead. But not today. Hermione slowly rolled out of her bed and started to get ready for another day's work at the Ministry.

She had just recently gotten the role of Assistant to the Minister. Her friends, Harry and Ron had also received jobs at the ministry, but Ron had vanished during a trip to the USA. It was rumored that he had joined forces with Voldemort and was now his most trusted Death Eater. It was also rumored that he just went insane. Hermione ignored both of these rumors.

Hermione hadn't seen Harry for now a bit over five years because he was always on top secret missions that the minister wouldn't even tell his assistant.

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"Ms. Granger." Her intercom rang when she arrived at her office. "Welcome. You have three owls waiting for you in the tower. You also have one Muggle message from a … I don't remember what it is called...the felly-tone?" Hermione smirked. Good old Arthur Weasly. "Here it is."

A loud beep came from the personal intercom.

"Hey, Hermione darling" her mother's voice said. "Just to let you know, your father is coming home tonight from Scotland tonight. I expect you to arrive at six o' clock sharp. Have a nice day honey."

The intercom went silent.

"Is you're mom done yet?"

Hermione looked at the doorway to her office. Veronica was leaning on the door frame looking as casual as could be.

"I need to go to the tower, if you want to come along; you are more that welcome to."

The two girls trudged up to the tower.

"So have there been any big events?" Hermione inquired. Veronica was the Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs. She was the one who planned the events with other wizarding countries. Veronica shrugged.

"Not since last week. Harry back yet?" Hermione's heart sank.

"No."

They reached the tower and Hermione found the three owls. Two of them were letters from the minister who was vacationing in Jamaica. The third one was from….

"Harry sent me a letter Veronica!" Veronica stopped leaning on the doorway and looked over Hermione's shoulder at the letter.

_Dear Hermione,_

_How are you? I haven't seen you since we graduated from Hogwarts. Well, my mission is over and I'll be heading back to Europe in a matter of days. The latest I'll be home by is December 8th. I'm so excited to see you again._

_Yours,_

_Harry Potter (A.K.A.: The Boy who lived)_

"Oh my god!" Veronica said. "He's coming back tomorrow! Oh you must be so excited!"

"Yes." Hermione said to herself. "Yes… I am."

But she wasn't so sure about it. True, she was excited, but, for some strange reason, something seemed to be telling her that she wasn't.

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The day was over, finally. Hermione was just packing up her briefcase when Lizzy came and knocked on her door.

"Come in."

"Uh… Hermione? There's been a mishap going on with the trolls that were experimenting on. Could you come and take a look?"

Hermione sighed heavily. "Sure."

"I'm sorry to disturb you right before you were going to go home, but it's kind of urgent."

"I understand."

They reached the lab underground. Indeed the trolls had made a mishap. They had destroyed most of the lab, but it could easily be fixed with the Reparo spell. The three trolls were now talking a breather and would shortly destroy the whole place.

"Here, um… I have to go right now, I'm really sorry Hermione."

"It's OK, just go."

Lizzy left and Hermione dealt with the trolls and put them back where they belonged. She also repaired the lab. When she was about to leave, a voice spoke to her.

"There you are."

Hermione turned around and looked. No one was there. She thought that she was having some sort of hearing problem. But then something moved out of the corner of her eye. The closet where the lab coats were kept had its door opened ajar. Hermione crept forward to it.

"Who…Who are you?" she stammered.

A tall man came out of the closet. He had a black cloak with a hood that covered his face. Hermione reached for her wand, but the man was too fast.

"_Expelliarmus!_" he shouted pointing at Hermione. Hermione's wand flew away into a corner of the room. She looked at him.

"You didn't answer my question," she said testily. "_Who are you?" _

He stepped forward and put his hand on her cheek. It was cold, but she instantly fell under his spell. He was pleased.

"I am your angel." He said softly.

With that, he strolled slowly back into the closet, which had opened up to reveal a secret passageway. Hermione followed him, half in daze, yet half in curiosity. She kept walking, not hearing the voice of Veronica. She kept on walking…until she vanished. She and the mysterious man vanished into the closet just as Veronica entered the lab.

"Hermione, HERMIONE!" Veronica cried. But she was no where in sight. She had fallen into the mysterious man's clutches.

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	2. Chapter 2: Into the Mysterious Man's Lai...

Like the SUSPENSE?

Here's the 2nd chap

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Veronica rushed around the ministry looking frantically for Hermione.

"Hermione? This isn't funny. Your mom and dad are going to be so mad at you. Please?"

After another half hour of searching, Veronica decided that she must have gone in such a hurry that she forgot her stuff. But everyone who is reading this story knows that this is very wrong. In fact, let's go back to Hermione and this mysterious man.

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The closet door shut behind Hermione. She didn't notice. She was trying to figure out who in the world would hide in the ministry like this. The pieces of this puzzle just didn't seem to fit together. The man led Hermione down a dark corridor lit with torches so that they could see where they were going.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

The man didn't look back at her but said rather quickly "There is no time to answer silly questions like the one you just asked. You will see…in time."

Hermione was stunned. She was just about to protest when they entered a dark cavern lit with torches just like the corridor. Hermione looked around. It looked like an underground cave that hadn't been discovered until just now. The mysterious man left Hermione and walked swiftly to his throne.

"Look around if you want." He said as he sat down. "Just don't try to run away."

He flicked his wand and a barrier sprung up in front of the door. Hermione had no way out. The man focused his attention on her again.

"I shall tell you when the time is right to leave."

Hermione took the liberty to explore and wandered over to the section, which looked like the most used. There was paper thrown everywhere. Hermione picked a piece of paper up. It was covered in an illegible scrawl. Hermione then noticed a desk in the very corner of the section. She crossed to it and opened a drawer. There was a photo in side of the drawer. She was about to take it out when the man threw her to the ground. Hermione was furious. She whisked around to see him close the drawer. He glared at her angrily. They glared at each other for a minute until the man broke the silence

"But you also don't have the right look through my privacy. Not until I can trust you enough."

He walked to her and helped her up.

"But strangers can turn to friends, and then lovers. You don't remember me, but you will soon enough. In the meantime, I think that it is best that you should stay here and rest. Yes…I know that your mother and father will be most displeased, but that's just the way that life is. Here, let me show you to your room."

When he said that though, Hermione had enough. She just fainted from disbelief and exhaustion. The man picked her up and carried her onto a bed right across from his throne. He placed her on the bed and stroked her hair.

"Soon you will realize the beauty of the darkness." He removed his hood (I'm not going to tell you how he looked because I would be a party-pooper and spoil the surprise) and closed a curtain that surrounded the bed.

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"Where is that girl? She was supposed to be here two hours ago." Mrs. Granger was freaking out over Hermione being late.

While Hermione was gone, she had cooked two tapioca puddings, three bowls of pasta with marinara sauce, and a big fat turkey. Mrs. Granger ran over her checklist to make sure that she had everything under control. After a couple more minutes of waiting, she tried calling her office, AGAIN. No one answered.

"That girl would never be late to anything this important!" Mrs. Granger was also worried about her husband, who was also two hours late.

She sat down on her armchair and anxiously watched the news. She was hoping that Hermione's delay was because of bad weather or an accident on the freeway. But then Mrs. Granger remembered. Hermione could apparate. How stupid was she, she kept forgetting that her daughter was a witch that had helped Harry Potter, no _the _Harry Potter.

DING DONG. The doorbell rang.

"Finally they're here!" Mrs. Granger sighed in relief. She opened the door and two ordinary looking men walked into her house.

"How dare you come barging into my house like that? Get out!"

One of the men turned around. "We're ministry officials ma'am."

Mrs. Granger blushed furiously. "Oh, I'm so sorry my dears; I thought that you were burglars or something."

"No." They were looking rather uncomfortable about being in a Muggle house.

"Well now, we can't take all day. What do you want?" Mrs. Granger was confused. The tall official stepped forward and told Mrs. Granger the bad news.

"Your husband was killed in a plane crash on his way back from Scotland."

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Hermione woke up at about 3:00 in the morning with a shock. She thought that it was all a dream, but apparently, it wasn't. She sat up and looked around. Hermione couldn't see anything because of the black curtain that was drawn around her bed. She hadn't had a nice sleep because she was still in her work clothes. Hermione opened the curtain and tip-toed out of the bed. The cavern was still there, but the man was scribbling away on his desk, occasionally crumpling up the paper and throwing it away as though that wasn't how he intended to write what he did.

"H-Hello?" she asked quietly. The man turned around, startled and then went back to his work.

Hermione didn't like his behavior at that moment. So she tried to spark up a conversation. "Um… what are you working on?"

The man turned and looked her in the eye. "I can't tell."

Hermione crept closer to him. "Who is that face behind that hood? You seem so familiar, yet so distant."

The man turned to look at her again and this time, Hermione pulled his hood up far enough to see a hideous site.

"REDUCTO!" he yelled and Hermione went flying across the room. She crashed against the cavern and crumpled into a heap on the floor, moaning. The man was walking swiftly towards her.

"DAMN YOU! YOU LITTLE PRYING PADORA! YOU LITTLE DEMON! IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED TO SEE?"

He reached her and kicked her onto her other side. Hermione groaned even more. But no one could come to her rescue; no one knew where she was.

"NOW YOU CANNOT EVER BE FREE!"

Silent tears started going down Hermione's face.

"DAMN YOU! CURSE YOU!"

He finally stopped and relaxed. He continued to glare at her while working at his desk. Hermione struggled to get up and finally did after many attempts. The first place she went to after she could stand was the bed. Several minutes afterward, the man couldn't stand still having her in his presence. He crossed to her bed and picked her up. The startled Hermione tried to struggle against him, but she couldn't. The man carried her down the corridor and layed her down in the lab.

"You will come next Thursday at the same time that you did yesterday." And with that, he left.

Hermione struggled to get up the stairs and when she reached the top, Lizzy found her.

But she couldn't tell anyone about what happened.

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	3. Chapter 3: The Phantom's Letter

There wasn't much suspense in that, now was there? Here's chap 3. (finally)

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"Back!" Cornelius Fudge busted into the ministry after a refreshing week in Jamaica.

"Back to run the wizarding England once again."

Wizards started staring at him, they had never seen him this hyper before.

Pansy Parkingson shuffled into the room after him and looked around at the lobby as if she had never seen it before. She 'ooooohed' and 'ahhhhed' at the mosaic floor and the golden fountain.

She crossed to Fudge and asked him very innocently. "Have you remodeled since I've gone?"

Fudge snickered. "No, Mrs. Malfoy, no."  
Draco strolled into the lobby and walked very slowly to the fountain. He peered inside. A red drop of water was inside the fountain.

"Pansy, my love." He said to her. "Why don't you and Mr. Fudge go on up to your office and I'll meet you there in a minute."

Pansy opened her mouth to protest when Fudge cut in.

"An excellent idea if I should say so myself. Mrs. Malfoy? Let's go." Pansy was a bit uncertain, but she went anyway

As they walked up the stairs, Draco looked around to see if anyone was around.

No one.

He knelt down and pulled a needle out of a sewing kit that Pansy had given him. He had never known why she had, but she did. Draco checked again to see if anyone was around.

Still, no one.

Draco pricked the needle into his index finger and a drop of blood fell into the fountain. He waited a minute before a dark hooded figure emerged from the pond. It was the mysterious man.

Draco smiled. "Have you found out the information that the Dark Lord needs?"

Th hooded man shook his head. "No, I am sorry, but the girl hasn't completely fallen under my trust yet. I shall have it by the next week."

Draco frowned. "You are taking this the hard way. The easy way would be just to torture her and get the information!" he paced the room angrily and then looked at the mysterious man suspiciously. "Are you in love with her?"

"No, no, of course not." The mysterious man shook his head rather quickly giving him a minor headache.

Draco shrugged. "The Dark Lord will not be pleased."

"Don't tell him please!" the mysterious man pleaded. "He'll be most displeased!"

"Which is why I shall tell him tomorrow." Draco said in an 'as-a-matter-of-fact' way "Now, I suggest you better be going, I think Mungdungus Fletcher is about to pass by."

The mysterious man nodded and sank back into the fountain as Mungdungus came into sight of the fountain.

"Malfoy!" he yelled. "Whatchya doing in the ministry?"

Draco smiled a wicked grin at him. "Visiting."

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"Oh hello Draco. We were just wondering what you were up to." Fudge remarked as Draco sat down next to Pansy in Fudge's office. It was a grand and glamorous office. It had very nicely polished furniture and many pictures of plans for new ministry extensions.

"Just looking around." He said simply. Almost too simply.

Fudge ignored that. "As I was telling your wife, I was just thinking of putting her back into the ministry."

Pansy interrupted him.. "That's not all, Draco, if I want to be accepted back into the ministry, I want to be the highest spot there is!"

Fudge looked at her coldly. A bit of Pansy's courage left her. "I mean, highest other than the minister."

Fudge wrote something down on a bit of parchment and then put away his quill.

"I am sorry to say that the highest position other than myself is now occupied. After you left that position, I hired a fantastically intelligent young woman named Hermione Granger. Have you heard of her?"

Pansy went a sort of whitish color and almost said something when Draco spoke for her.

"We went to school together."

Pansy glared at him and stood up. "That's the second time today when I have been cut off of something that I wanted to say!"

Draco sat her down. "And it won't be the last."

Fudge looked at his watch and crossed to the doorway, looking around for someone. Having no success, he went back to his desk and sat down.

"Speaking of Hermione, where is she?"

Pansy brightened up a bit. "Is she sick?"

"No, she was fine yesterday. I…"

Lizzy had knocked on the doorway very loudly, interrupting his sentence.

"Excuse me sir," she said. "I hope that I'm not interrupting anything."

"Yes you were." Draco said hotly. "You…"

"Sucks for you." She snapped back. "Anyway, Hermione is missing. Her mother called in and told us why we didn't let her go home last night. I said that she left, but she didn't believe me. I checked this morning to see if she was still in the ministry maybe working late, actually very late, anyway… she wasn't here. I searched all over the place with the help of Veronica, Kelley, and Elise, but no where. I could not find her anywhere."

Fudge was furious now. "What sort of nonsense is this?"

Lizzy tried calmly to explain to him. "This is no nonsense. Hermione, your assistant, has vanished in the ministry."

Draco stood up. "That's preposterous!"

Lizzy turned onto him. "No it isn't!" her temper was rising. "You don't understand! Hermione…"

"…has been found." Veronica finished for her. "I found her in the lab early this morning."

"Where is she?" Fudge roared. "Get her here quick! Oh, and someone go to the Starbucks down the road and get me a Grande latte, with extra foam and 2 fat milk!"

Veronica spoke very calmly, unlike everyone else, who spoke very hurriedly. "We can't get you coffee until we can sort out what happened to Hermione."

"What happened to Hermione?" a new voice asked.

Everyone who wasn't looking at the doorway looked there. Standing there was a tall man with messy jet-black hair and emerald green eyes. On his forehead was a thin lightning bolt scar. It was Harry Potter.

Veronica explained the situation that Hermione was in, except for the part about the mysterious man., for she did not know about him… or did she? When she finished, Harry's eyes were wide open with concern.

"Where is she? Is she OK? Let me see her!" He said all in a slur.

Veronica started counting off the answers to his questions. "One, she's going home. Two, she's OK. Three, no."

"And why not?" He asked softly. Veronica gave him a 'duh!' look.

"She's not feeling that well. When I found her, she was lying on the floor and crying. She was seriously injured, with cuts and a huge bruise on her back. Don't worry!" she added when she saw Harry's face go very pale with concern. "She's all fine now. A healer from St. Mungo's rushed over and restored her back to her normal state."

Harry calmed down a little bit. Everyone in the room had followed the conversation with much confusion. Harry crossed to the doorway, but Veronica stopped him. "There's more that you need to hear."

Fudge stood up outraged. "Well, if she is feeling better, than that's no reason why she should miss work."

"EEEK!" Pansy squealed. Three owls had zoomed into the office and one had barely scalped Pansy. One of the letters fell into Harry's hands, another drifted into Pansy's lap, and the last, Veronica caught the letter right when it left the owl's claws. She opened her letter rather quickly and read it to herself. She smirked at the letter and then glanced at Fudge..

"He welcomes you." She said simply. " And he left you instructions on how to run his ministry."

Fudge stared at her in awe. "Who does this…this… something think he is? ME?"

"Keep going Veronica." Harry cut Fudge off.

"Here they are. Dear Fudge, I have not written in ten years to the minister. Anyway, here are my instructions. I shall have it that if Pansy Parkingson wants a job here, she'll have to work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. Why? Because that is the highest position available other than the janitor. I'm sure that Pansy won't want to be the janitor. Well, what else is there to say? Oh, yes! Now I remember. My salary of 900 galleons is due. Please leave it in Ms. Granger's office, which reminds me… you have to make Ms. Granger in charge of the lab on Thursday nights for certain reasons. Should these demands not be met, a disaster beyond your imagination shall occur. I remain your obedient servant, The Phantom of the Ministry."

Veronica folded back up the note and placed it on Fudge's desk. Harry tore open his letter and read it with disgust.

"Do not fear for Ms. Granger, her angel has her under his wing. Make no attempt to see her again."

Draco snatched the last note from Pansy and read it to himself. He gave the note to the annoyed Pansy and she read it to the group.

"Your days at the ministry are numbered, Ms. Granger is working in your desired job. Start packing your bags." She said in a shrilly voice.

Pansy glared at Harry and crumpled the note in her fist. "Explain this! Why are you writing these notes?"

"You imbecile!" Harry roared. "I did nothing to you and yet you accuse me of doing this? How dare you!"

Fudge broke up the fight with his own retort. "This thing doesn't even know what he is dealing with, and borrowing my TOP SECRET LAB is out of the question!"

Veronica tried to calm her boss down. "He only wants to borrow it for Thursday nights!"

Fudge didn't want to give up his argument. "But-but…." He whined.

Pansy started screeching at Fudge now. "WHO DID THIS! I WANT YOUR BEST MEN ON THIS!"

"But my BEST men are trying to stop Voldemort!"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! I WANT A CERTAIN JOB AND I'LL GET IT IF I HAVE TO KILL EVERYONE IN MY SIGHT!"

Draco started consoling her and telling her that everything was all right. He addressed the confused crowd in the room. "She didn't mean it. I swear."

Fudge didn't pay any attention. He was too bust trying to figure out how to compromise the deals. The 'thingy' was demanding that Hermione stay in her current job. But the Malfoys were filthy rich. A light bulb switched on in his head…. and not a very bright one.

"I've got it!" he shouted gleefully. All the conversations stopped. "Pansy, you shall move in this instant!"

She stared at him warningly. "I told you that I wanted only…"

"As your new boss." He interrupted her, "you shall move into Ms. Granger's office and immediately start working."

Pansy's face lit up and then died like a bug hitting a windshield. "But what about the …person you were talking about? Won't he do something horrible?" A sly grin started to appear on Draco's face. Of course, he didn't tell her. But then again, who would tell a blabbermouth like her?

Fudge laughed heartily. "No, he's a thing of the past now."

Nobody was convinced. The majority of the people who left that room agreed that Dumbledore should have been the minister.

Lurking in his cave was the mysterious man who, of course, was watching that whole conversation. A grin slowly developed and he laughed an icy laugh to send chills down your spine.

"So, it is to be war against us? Well, you'll soon see how foolish your choice was."

With that, he burst into laughter, maniacal laughter.

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Hermione was in high spirits that day. She had gotten her report about the Muggle awareness back and received an OK to start the project. It was a very complex project and would take forever to explain…so I'll skip that.

Yet, Hermione was confused. Hermione received an owl message from Fudge containing that he wanted to talk to her in the kitchen. Never ever had he wanted to meet in the kitchen. He must have been extremely stressed about what she was going to tell her. Whenever he was stressed, he always drank coffee, a Muggle drink that keeps your energy going… or so they said.

Hermione turned a corner and reached the kitchen. It was a medium sized kitchen that had a marble floor and blue tiled walls. The cookbooks were stacked neatly in a pile on a table and a fireplace allowed the workers to transport by Floo powder home and grab a quick snack.

Fudge was right by the stove making coffee. He didn't seem at all nervous or stressed.

"Ah Ms. Granger!" he said when she walked into the room. "Please, have a cup of coffee."

Hermione stared at the black liquid; Fudge had made it wrong again. "No thank you, I'll pass."

Fudge sighed and took a swig of the drink. "Ms. Granger, what I'm about to tell you might be very difficult on you."

Hermione snapped to attention. "What is it sir?"

Fudge told her. Hermione was stunned. Her life, her hard work had been thrown away for a ditz who couldn't tell the difference between an apple and a banana.

But he also told her something else. "We received a message from your mother. The night you were supposed to go to a family dinner, your father has passed away. He was killed in the plane crash from Ireland to London. I'm deeply sorry."

Hermione rushed out of the room, bursting with tears.

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About three days later, Harry, Veronica, Hermione, Pansy, Draco, Lizzy, and Fudge were gathered together arguing whether to keep Hermione's report or not. All of a sudden, an echoing voice roared throughout the entire ministry.

"DID I NOT INSTRUCT THAT MRS. PARKINGSON WAS TO BE PUT IN THE MISUSE OF MUGGLE ARTIFACTS OFFICE?"

Everyone was staring wildly around the floor, and Hermione uttered some words to the group she was with.

"It's him, the angel!"

Pansy yelled a comeback at her. "You toad! It is not an angel! It is this phantom that I've heard about!"

The phantom chuckled. "Oh but perhaps not. Perhaps you are the toad!"

The voice didn't speak afterwards, so every one went back to normal, but with caution in the air.

Pansy went back to talking, but stopped abruptly. "What are you all staring at? My good looks?" she snorted at her joke.

The group continued to star at her. Hermione screamed. Pansy was growing shorter and shorter. Warts were growing off of her skin. Her eyes changed, and then she disappeared. In her place was a frog, ribbiting and the phantom's voice laughing so hard as if the whole event were funny.

Pandemonium broke out. Women were screaming and men were talking furiously. Draco glared at the ceiling, looking for the phantom. On top of all of that, Fudge was cursing. Not just because of Pansy, but also because of news that they had heard.

An unspeakable had been killed by the phantom. The unspeakable guarding the Department of Mysteries.

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	4. Finding a Love

OHHHHHH SCARY!

(Hehehehehehe) well, here's the 4th chap.

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News of the death of the unspeakable spread like wildfire. Wanting to really know if it was true, everybody on the floor slowly made his or her way down to the Department of Mysteries.

Then they found him. The unspeakable was lying on the floor, barely able to live. It looked like he had been physically attacked, for blood was scattered in little drops on the walls and the floor. Healers from St. Mungo's had Apparated as quickly as they could over to the ministry and were trying to heal him. They confirmed that he was attacked by a spell. But unfortunately, the attacker had used an unknown spell on the unspeakable, so the Healers were of no help. Fudge wanted him to be interrogated right away to try to squeeze some information out of him.

The unspeakable's energy was fading very quickly, so Harry hurried to his aid and he asked him,

"Who did this to you?"

Everyone was silent, everyone was anxious to hear the answer if it was really what they thought it was. The unspeakable tried as hard as he could to utter his last words. But his strength left him, and he died.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted his hand clutching a roll of parchment. He pulled it out of the man's dead hand and unrolled it.

"This is only a fraction of what I can do. Don't underestimate my power again."

The silence lingered in the air until the parchment burst into flames Harry's hands.

"Ouch!" he muttered. But no one heard him.

Once again, the ministry had broken out in pandemonium. The men were shouting and cooking up plans to rid of this phantom while the women were screaming and wailing and wanting to leave and never come back. All except for Harry and Hermione.

Hermione clutched Harry's arm and yelled over the pandemonium,

"Come with me, I need to talk to you." She seemed frantic and scared.

"Why?" Harry shouted back. "Where can we go? The whole place is going berserk!"

"Outside!" Hermione shouted, "Come on, we need to go… now!"

Harry raced behind Hermione as the two of them struggled through the crowd to the elevator. They were silent until they reached the lobby. Hermione grabbed Harry's burnt hand rather tightly. He flinched.

"Come on Harry!" she whispered. Looking around, she dashed out of the lobby into the phone booth elevator with Harry at her heels.

When they got outside, the sun had fallen and gave way to the moon. Hermione stood and stared out onto the horizon.

"Hermione, why didn't we just Apparate outside?"

Hermione blushed. "Um… didn't think of that… sorry…"

Harry crossed to a bench, sat down and examined his hand. It looked like Dumbledore's hand in his sixth year at Hogwarts.

"Aguamenti." Cold water spurted from his wand and poured onto his hand. Hermione heard the running water and turned around.

"Harry! What happened to your hand?"

She sat down next to him and conjured a bandage out of thin air.

"Your friend's letter caught on fire." Harry smirked. Hermione scowled.

"He's not my friend. Do you think I would approve of a killing of an innocent person?" she snapped at him while she wrapped the bandage around his hand.

"Sorry, I meant it as a joke."

Hermione sighed. "It's alright."

The twosome remained silent as Hermione finished wrapping up Harry's hand. When she finished, Harry uttered a thank you.

"No problem at all."

"I think we need to go back now…"

"Don't take me back there!" She leapt up. "He'll find us there and kill you… the phantom of the ministry. He will…." Hermione whimpered

"Don't say that!" Harry said, and stood up.

"My God! Who is this man? Who hunts to kill? I can't escape from him…"

"Hermione there is no such thing as …"

"The phantom of the ministry will always be in my mind."

"There is no phantom! What rubbish is this that every one keeps talking about?"

"It's not rubbish. I've seen him. Can I ever forget his face? It seemed like I saw him before."

In the middle of her thought, Hermione's tone changed.

"Yet his voice filled my sprit with a strange new sound, in the night there was magic everywhere! Through his magic, my soul began to soar…"

"Don't be silly, it was a dream, and nothing more."

"No, Harry, it wasn't." Hermione said softly. Harry stared at her, confused. She turned around and their eyes met.

"In his eyes, was all the sadness in the world. You wouldn't believe it. The murderer lurking in the ministry having a tender side. But I felt it. I felt as though I was the only one who understood him. He seems so familiar."

"Who is this…this person?" Harry inquired quietly.

Hermione ran into his arms. "Harry, I'm scared. Make this stop, please."

"Hermione…" a soft voice reached her ears. She turned around, but there was no one in sight.

Harry held her and stroked her hair. "It's going to be alright Hermione, we'll find a way."

He looked at her, helpless Hermione. "I'm here, he won't find you."

Hermione stared back over the horizon. "I just want to be free, no more phantom, no more of this rubbish that he's done to me."

She sat down the bench and huddled herself together. "If he finds me, it won't ever end. Harry, we'll be parted for ever…"

Harry sat down next to her. "Don't think of all of all this darkness."

Hermione and Harry looked into each other's eyes.

"Harry, please, you've got to help me."

"I will."

Hermione looked down at her watch (breaking the tender moment); it was 9:00 pm.

"We've got to return." Hermione said.

"Hermione," Harry said. But he didn't need to say anymore. Hermione understood, for she leaned towards him, and they met in a kiss. When they broke away, they were both smiling, and Hermione was glowing.

As they Apparated back inside, a light mist fell, and the man appeared out of the shadows. He had heard all of the conversation. Crossing to the bench, he sat down and was trying very hard not to cry.

"I did it for you," He muttered to himself. "but you betrayed me, and you denied all of what I could of done for you."

Silent tears started streaming down his face as he recalled going to school with her and being her friend. He remembered those golden times, until just about six years ago.

The man crossed to a lamppost and leaned upon it. He had been the happiest he had ever been in six years, and now was back to misery.

Then anger and jealousy took over him. "You will curse this day for now and eternity!"

The mist surrounded him, and he disappeared.

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"Harry! Hermione!" Veronica and Lizzie were looking for them.

"This is the second time this week!" Lizzie sighed. "It's starting to get a bit annoying."

"They'll turn up eventually." Veronica said. "Let's look in the lab again."

"You think she'll be down there?"

"They could be."

"WAIT!" Hermione ran over to them with Harry right beside her.

"Where were you two?" Lizzy asked.

"Outside… um, sorry."

"What ever. Did you guys see the look on Fudge's face when he had to put Pansy in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office? Ha! It was hilarious!" Lizzy told them rather excitedly.

"So I get my job back?" Hermione inquired.

Veronica shrugged. "I guess so. But I've never seen anything as funny as Pansy's face when she got her new job!" Now Veronica had the delighted look on her face.

"So what were you two doing outside?" Lizzie asked slyly. Hermione laughed.

"Just talking."

"Oh really, I'm gonna fall for a lame excuse like that."

"Honestly Lizzie, we were."

"Alright, suit yourself."

Everyone had by now resumed their regular jobs, but were still a bit cautious to look out for this 'phantom' that he called himself. About a half an hour later, things were back to the way they were. Harry, Hermione, Veronica and Lizzie were now discussing about security policies for Muggle Awareness of Magic.

"I think that we should just dump them in Iceland." Harry joked.

"No!" Hermione cried. "We can't do that! Not every Muggle is like your aunt and uncle."

"What about the disguise thing that Hogwarts uses? That's pretty convenient."

"But Veronica, that's for PLACES, not PEOPLE."

"All I'm saying is that… oh never mind."

"I think that what our system is right now with the obliviation is perfectly fine!"

"But Muggles still find out about us, Lizzie. We have to do something…"

"Um… Hermione? I think that guy wants to talk to you."

Hermione followed Veronica's stare and looked directly at the phantom. He was floating above the ground and his eyes locked contact with Hermione's. The office was dead silent.

Then, the phantom started floating closer to Hermione. Hermione backed up into Harry, who put his hands on her shoulders as if trying to comfort her.

But it didn't.

Each foot the man floated closer to her, a fireball forming in his right hand got larger and larger. People scurried away from him but without making a sound. He didn't seem interested in them. His eye contact remained with Hermione until she got too frightened and looked away. This made the phantom even madder. Then he stopped.

"GO! GO AND LEAVE ME!" he thundered at Hermione.

He then threw the fireball at her.

"Finite Incantatem!" she cried, pointing her wand at the fireball.

Inches from her face, it exploded, knocking Hermione out.

Harry, Veronica and Lizzie hurried to her side, wands drawn, just in case.

But he was gone.

The phantom of the ministry had disappeared.

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	5. The Masquerade Begins

Aw… poor phantom.. tear

haha, Liz, I stole your –POP- thingy! Haha!

Ok, I love this chapter sooooooo much, sorry if you don't.

chap 5

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Another year came and passed, the snow melted which ran along the rivers joyfully, only to be dried up by the blazing summer sun. The green leaves became brown and died. Young witches and wizards were whisked back to their schools, and the autumn gave way to the cold winter again.

But we don't care about that, do we?

Let's get back to the Ministry, since a year has passed, it is surprising that nothing had greatly changed. Only one thing was for sure. The phantom had not caused any more trouble to the Ministry, he had caused a great deal of trouble to the Dark Lord.

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Fresh tears fell from his eyes as he remembered the past year. Alone was the only word to describe it. It had been a long and lonely year. Without anything to gain from the ministry, he had stayed in his cavern, not to be disturbed.

Sitting on a rock, he put his head in his hands and tried to stop his tears.

'_Isn't it best not to feel anything? Just to forget about emotion?_

A little voice in the back of his head was nagging him.

'See? Look at you. You're a mess. How'd you get here in the first place? EMOTION. The Dark Lord feels nothing.'

The phantom scowled.

'He feels hate and anger? What nonsense is this? Everyone is jealous of his power so they try to put him down. See what feeling nothing can do?'

"Yes," the phantom said aloud, his voice quaking. "It can't make me love."

Staggering to his throne-like chair, he sat down carelessly and glared at the gloomy homage he confined himself in. It was lucky that the ministry decided to relocate the troll storage, but really it was all thanks to one lovely worker at the ministry. She didn't know he was working for the ministry. It was a good thing they were a teenage love a while back.

Footsteps echoed the cavern. Startled, the phantom drew his wand and stood up.

"Ah, what is it they call you now? The phantom?"

The phantom pocketed his wand. It was Malfoy, leaning on his new walking stick just like his father would. But now wasn't the time that the phantom wanted guests.

"What're you doing here? Go away."

"Ah! Is that how you should act to a formal co-worker? Please," he whisked the throne chair forward so that the phantom was knocked into a sitting position, "sit down."

"Not like you gave me a choice." The phantom sneered.

For a fraction of a second, the darkest look crossed Malfoys face, only to be replaced with the smirk that became the façade of his feelings.

"Here, have a drink."

A teacup (with hot, steaming tea in it) popped in front of the phantom's face. It fell into his hands, but not after spilling a bit of tea on his cape.

"The Dark Lord wishes for his information that so long ago should have been his. You've failed to deliver it for a year now. I think it is time I should give you orders." Malfoy said with a tone of disgust in his voice.

"I don't care anymore." He said as he tried to wipe off the tea with a siphoning charm; but with no prevail.

"I know you don't, but the Dark Lord does."

"Do I give a damn what the Dark Lord thinks!"

"You must! Don' you care about that Mudblood's future? Don't you want to make sure that the Dark Lord does not find out she's close to…"

CRACK.

Hot tea was flowing on the floor where the phantom had dropped it.

"Shut up."

"I was right. You do love her."

"SHUT UP!"

Fear was now etched on every line of the phantom's face.

"Please, Draco, don't tell… please… I'll do whatever you say…please Draco…"

Malfoy let out a long cold laugh.

"Do you really think I would tell the Dark Lord? Risk my service when I noticed it a year ago? He is the one of the most skilled Legilimens of all time! HE WOULD FIGURE IT OUT SOONER THAN YOU WOULD THINK!"

The echoes of his last word lingered in the cavern. Draco started his way over to the phantom's desk and caught a glimpse of the overstuffed drawer's contents. Curious, he started fishing through it.

"What are you doing? Get out of that!"

Draco kept looking…a prefect's badge…an OWL examination report…nothing of great importance until…

He opened a different desk drawer and pulled out a picture. His smirk started again.

"You miss them, don't you?"

"So what?"

The voice started up again. _'He's testing you…don't blow it…'_

"Tut, tut, that's not how you talk to you superiors you know."

"I don't care. Just tell me what to do."

Malfoy walked back over to the phantom. "Good decision. But I also found something out about your…love of your life." Malfoy chuckled to himself.

"The Mudblood's engaged."

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"Can't it go any bigger?"

"Nope. I think that's it. You can't wear your strawberry sign."

"Man!"

Veronica was off in the corner, changing into a pale gold dress that looked like a senior prom dress, not paying attention to Hermione trying to make the finishing touches on Lizzie's costume perfect. The ministry's holiday party was that night and Hermione, Lizzie, and Veronica were getting all dressed up for the party. This year's theme was a masquerade and Lizzie set her sights high and tried to pull off a blueberry muffin with a sign saying 'I'd rather be a strawberry". Apparently, they had measured wrong on the length of the string for the sign and it didn't fit around the muffin container.

"I have to wear the strawberry sign!"

"You can't wear the strawberry sign!"

Lizzie sulked and sat down in Hermione's bedroom chair. Veronica and Hermione looked at each other and laughed. Lizzie then clicked her tongue. Hermione was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe.

"I think I'll just go as plan two."

"Ok, you do that."

Plan two meant a blueberry. If Lizzie couldn't have a muffin, she'd have a blueberry.

"Go get the blueberry then."

Lizzie crossed over to the door and Disapparated on the spot. Veronica went back to zipping up her dress and Hermione went to go get hers. Seconds later, Lizzie Apparated right where she had disappeared. With her she was carrying a blueberry outfit.

"Do y-you know how _hard _it is to e-even _carry_ this even when Apparating!"

"Go and get it on. You're already running late."

"Fine, fine…"

Lizzie slowly trudged towards the enlarged closet, until Hermione gave her a shove. When she was gone, Hermione continued getting out the dress she was going to wear. Veronica was now finished.

"I'm going to go now… I'm expecting to be meeting with someone."

"Don't want to be late?"

"Sure…"

Somehow she seemed crestfallen, and almost distant. Noticing this, Hermione stepped towards her and put a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"You've been thinking about Ron lately?"

"Yes."

"You need to know that he loved you before…"

"Before he left?"

Veronica shrugged away Hermione's hand and sat down on the bed.

"He'll never be gone! He's always here!"

"You need to accept the fact that he's gone… not dead… just gone. Were you two engaged?"

The words were lost somewhere along the way, so Veronica just nodded.

"You miss him, don't you?"

Veronica was just about to answer when Lizzie burst in ready in her blueberry outfit.

"Ok, I'm set, let's go."

Veronica nodded and crossed to the door. Abruptly, she stopped and turned around.

"You coming?"

"In a minute."

The two girls then Apparated, leaving Hermione to get ready for the masquerade.

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Harry was standing in the lobby, waiting for Hermione. She was supposed to arrive about ten minutes ago. He was all dressed up for the party; the same wizard robes he had worn to the Yule Ball, except many sizes bigger. Suddenly, he heard laughter coming from the hall behind him.

'_Speak of the Devil'_ he thought and turned around. But it wasn't Hermione. It was Veronica and Lizzie; but Veronica looked a bit pale. Harry walked up to them.

"Nice outfit Lizzie."

She grinned.

"Yes, don't you love it? I was going to be a blueberry _muffin_ but…"

"The costume didn't fit?" Harry inquired.

Lizzie gaped.

"Exactly! The strawberry sign didn't fit! Do you know…!"

"What strawberry sign?"

"Oh, the strawberry sign that said…"

Harry wasn't really paying attention; he was more concerned about Veronica and her abnormal behavior. She was as quiet as a church mouse and was frantically looking around the room like there was someone following her.

"… and it didn't fit!… Were you paying attention?"

Harry started.

"Uhhh…"

"Thought so." Lizzie followed Harry's gaze. "She's been acting like that for days. I don't know what's up. Whenever we talk about Ron, she goes all stony and silent. It's starting to get a bit annoying now. If you'll excuse me, I need to talk to Elise and Kelley… I haven't seen them in ages."

With that, Lizzie walked into another hallway, leaving Harry and Veronica alone.

Trying to strike up a conversation, Harry strolled to one of the weather changing windows and said "Lovely weather, isn't it?"

That was not true at all, it was raining, thundering, and winds were howling. But it was a start.

Veronica just nodded. She turned toward the way that Lizzie had gone and quickly followed. Harry grabbed her arm.

Struggling, she said in bits, "Must….Kelley and Elise… haven't seen them in ages… please… he'll kill me…"

Harry let go, shocked. Who'd want to kill Veronica (other than Voldemort)?

-POP-

"Harry?"

Harry turned around and his eyes fell upon Hermione. She was stunning. It was almost as though Cinderella had lent Hermione her dress. It was a pale pink and had matching gloves. It didn't have the other layers that Cinderella had. Hermione's hair was pulled back into a bun almost on top of her head.

Harry was speechless. Finally he found some words.

"You look beautiful."

Hermione smiled.

"Thank you. I remember those robes…"

"They were from the Yule Ball, remember?"

"Oh yes! I remember!"

Harry escorted Hermione into the ministry and they headed towards Lizzie.

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Veronica was lost in the crowd; trying to find someone that supposedly wasn't there. Several minutes later, she spotted someone out of the corner of her eye. Immediately, the person ran away, but with Veronica on its trail. They circled around, and finally went into Fudges most important lab; the lab that Hermione had disappeared in a year ago.

Veronica, almost out of breath, dashed down the staircase and came face to face with the mysterious person. The person lifted his hood and Veronica let out a sigh.

"You gave me a fright!"

The phantom was the man she had chased all throughout the ministry. Smiling, he sat down in one of the chairs.

"I'm so sorry, I had to get you away from the crowd… so I could talk to you alone."

"What do you want to talk to me about?"

The phantom now was toying with one of the glass tubes in the lab.

"When the time is right, I need you to tell Hermione to come back down here.."

"Is that all you care about? Hermione and the Dark Lord?"

"And if anyone gets in your way…"

He dropped the vial. It shattered into many pieces.

"You know what to do."

Veronica knelt down next to the phantom, "Please, Hermione's engaged…"

The phantom suddenly tensed up.

"She's been through enough already… please…"

Veronica looked into the phantom's eyes. "I thought you were dead."

The phantom sighed. "This is not the time… sometime later…"

He stood and was about to go when Veronica held his leg.

"Please… don't kill anymore… be the person I knew six years ago…"

Losing patience, the phantom shook her hand off of his leg. Veronica wouldn't give up. Standing up, she grabbed his arm. The phantom whisked around and hit her hard on the face. She fell to the ground, but not unconscious.

"YOU DON'T GET IT DO YOU?"

Veronica whimpered. The phantom kicked her.

"YOU SLUT! I DON'T LOVE YOU!"

At this, Veronica gave up, and she cried. She cried tears of hate, of anger, of defeat, and of loneliness. Yet the phantom didn't care, he kicked her one last time and said,

"I will do what I please, and you will help me."

Pausing, he stooped down and took off the ring that so long ago he had given her. He held it up and pointed his wand at it.

'Bombardo' 

It exploded into a million tiny pieces. Veronica couldn't bear to look at him. The phantom walked away…

And he vanished.

Veronica stayed on the floor, crying. She had lost the only person she'd ever loved… to find him again… brought happiness to her. Now to find he didn't love her anymore… was unbearable.

She scattered around, trying to pick up some of the larger portions of the ring. After five pieces, she gave up. She crawled to the chair and sat on it.

"I'll be with him as long as he needs me… maybe after a while, he'll love me again…"

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	6. The Phantom's Request

Ok… I'm gonna start doing shout outs.

Looneyluna1993- Haha…. The emotion thingy… I gotchya! That took me awhile… haha. Yes… I stole your 'plot', (aka .. pop).. haha… but it was kinda weird because I hadn't used it in my other chapters or stories before… but whatever.

SpiritedAway123 – you're wrong! (crosses fingers behind back) he's not the phantom! (looks away slightly)… alright… alright… u got me. Did u figure it out in the fifth chap? That's when you were supposed to. Oh well… I won't announce it or anything… just feel good that u got it right. And you're right, it was REALLY obvious. Haha. Just make note that the characters don't know he's the phantom…. Hmm…

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Love is a troublesome thing. One moment it could be fire, piercing your skin with the sharpest pain. It could be water, with you drowning in the love of another. Or it could be a pleasant breeze, just everything going your way. Yet it can be smoke…when you try to reach out to someone… you think they love you… but they don't… and the smoke disappears.

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Veronica let the tears flow. She understood now why he didn't always want her around. He didn't care about her anymore. She had put aside so much for them… but found that they didn't need it anymore…

She looked around her; the lab was in pretty good condition. The only things that were broken were the glass vial and the remains of the ring.

The ring that had promised her all the happiness of the world. That little trinket that meant a lifetime of love and protection. That fleeting period of time that she thought she was going to be loved for life, now was gone like watching a ship sail off in the distance. Little by little she still tried to grasp on to the fact that he would come back… until it vanished… and she knew the truth. The silent tears now turned to sobs.

"Veronica?"

Veronica looked up; it was Lizzie. She had changed from her blueberry outfit to a pale blue dress, almost the same as Veronica's. Apparently, Fudge had told her to go home and change; probably because he wanted it to be a formal masquerade, with only a mask. Veronica wiped away some of her tears with her forefinger and stifled her sobs down to sniffles.

"What happened?"

Lizzie started making her way down some stairs, but stopped about three or four steps down. Veronica still hadn't answered. Her eyes kept darting from Lizzie, to the floor, and back and forth. Finally, she couldn't stifle her sobs anymore, and let her tears flow again.

Lizzie ran down the remaining steps two at a time and kept running to Veronica. When Lizzie reached Veronica, she conjured a handkerchief and gave it to Veronica.

"There, there, it's ok… I bet it was nothing major…"

Of course, Lizzie was wrong, but she was trying to help.

Veronica shook her head.

"No… it w-was…"

She stopped; she had almost said his name.

"… t-the phantom… he's back."

Lizzie's eyes widened. "You have to tell this to Fudge! Come on…"

"Wait… water… please…"

"Alright… here." Lizzie handed a full glass of water to Veronica. When she did, she finally got a full glance of Veronica. "God! You're a mess! Let me help."

She pointed her wand at Veronica and muttered _'Scourgify'_. Instantly the glass shards, burns on her dress, and dirt vanished leaving her dress nice and clean.

'Reparo' 

Rips in the bottom part of her dress were mended instantly. Lizzie muttered an incantation and that put Veronica's hair back in place.

"Ok, I'm ready now…"

Lizzie helped Veronica up.

"I'm still reporting it to Fudge, he should know about this."

Veronica whisked around to face Lizzie. Her face lost all color.

"Please… no… he'll know… he'll kill…"

"No he won't! If I tell Fudge, then he'll know that I told, and not you!"

Lizzie grinned. "You see my logic?"

Veronica wasn't amused. "No, I don't. Let's go."

With that she staggered up the staircase and out of sight. Lizzie looked around her and repaired the shattered vial before following Veronica.

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"That's insane!"

"But it's true! He's back! He attacked Veronica!"

"That's as silly as your blueberry costume."

Lizzie frowned. "At least it's not as stupid as you not believing You-Know-Who was back!"

Fudge went a very unpleasant red. "I will not hear such nonsense under this roof!"

"What's the nonsense?"

Harry and Hermione had joined the group. "Nothing of your business." Fudge said sourly.

"If it is of your business, then I think that it is well enough to be Hermione's business too. Since we are engaged…" Harry gave her a peck on the check. "I feel that I do have the right to know."

Fudge pointed an accusing finger at Lizzie and looked Harry straight in the eye.

"This girl says that…"

"No! Please!"

Hermione was right there and Lizzie didn't want to break the news to her.

"… that her little buddy is back."

Now Fudge was pointing at Hermione. She paled and quickly looked at Lizzie as though she was asking if it was true. Lizzie bowed her head sadly. Harry hadn't caught on.

"Do you mean… oh I don't know… the trolls?"

Hermione faced Harry. "No, Harry, it's _him_. He's back… the phantom of the ministry."

Now Harry caught on. Lizzie tried to stop the uncomfortable silence.

"He beat Veronica. That's how I know he's not a fake."

"Veronica? Is she alright?" Hermione scanned the room for her.

"She's alright; I made her go home though. She shouldn't be here anyway, she needs rest." Lizzie said to make Hermione calm down.

"Did you see him?" Fudge pressed.

"Well, no…but…"

"You see then! She has no proof that he has ever come back!"

"Well! THEN WHO'S THAT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM!"

Hermione, Harry, and Fudge all stared at the man that Lizzie was pointing at. An eerie silence had fallen over everyone on the floor.

The phantom wore a blood red cloak that fell to the floor. He was holding several documents in his hand. He was wearing a hood, but had his festivities…a skull mask that almost looked real.

It was like the parting of the red seas. The crowded floor now looked barren as the phantom made his way across the room. Every step made everyone want to leave, but they couldn't. The phantom passed Hermione and Harry, who then scurried off to where the phantom had come from.

The phantom stopped right in front of Fudge. He handed him the documents and stepped back for Fudge to read them. Bitterly, Fudge began to read. Lizzie peeked over Fudge's shoulder and read too.

When they had both finished, they said, "Disable the war against You-Know-Who?"

The phantom smirked. "Why yes! There is no fine print or anything, is there?"

Fudge was outraged. "It's just preposterous to stop the war! Having the war going on is why half the people sleep well at night…"

"… the other half does not sleep because they are at risk of the wrath of the Dark Lord."

Lizzie softly pushed Fudge out of the way and crossed to the phantom. "Hell no we're not going to stop the war against Voldemort! You 'purebloods' think you're all that powerful and mighty! You forgot to mention that you are downright stupid! Stopping the war against Voldemort would be as stupid as making you the Minister of Magic!"

The phantom glared at Lizzie. "Mark my words, you're day will come soon…"

He produced a knife out of his pocket and brandished it at Lizzie. "… But today isn't it. I swear! On my blood…"

He cut his hand and two droplets fell. They vanished before they hit the ground.

"I promise."

He threw the knife behind him and it sank deep into Harry's chest. He let out a yell of surprise and pain.

"HARRY!"

Hermione knelt down to Harry and Lizzie ran to the couple. The phantom turned around to see whom his weapon had hit. Hermione tried various spells to cure Harry, and finally found one to stop the bleeding and finally one to heal his wound. The phantom stood aside and watched Harry suffer.

"I'll except your declination of the war against Voldemort by Monday."

With that, he vanished, leaving and eerie sense in the air.

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this isn't my best work… but still R&R!


	7. A Fatal Mistake

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"Not in a million years!" Fudge roared.

He rose from his and slammed his hand onto the desk. It hurt, but it helped to let some of his fiery temper out.

"It's better for the other wizards if there's no phantom running about!"

"But what about You-Know-Who!"

"The phantom will cause more damage…"

"That would cost me my job to do that!"

"IS THAT ALL YOU CARE ABOUT? YOUR JOB!" Draco snarled back at him.

"WELL YOU MIGHT IFYOU HAVE TO DECIDE WHETER OR NOT TO KEEP FIGHTING A BLOODY BASTARD!" Fudge looked a lot like a radish, his face was flushed with purple and red.

"L-let Hermione decide. She's the one i-in most danger." Harry muttered weakly.

Harry was sitting in a chair with a rip and a bloodstain where the knife had hit him. Hermione was sitting next to Harry waiting to supply anything to help him recover. Veronica, Lizzie, Draco, Pansy and Fudge were also crammed inside of Fudge's office.

"Don't disable the war. And no…" Hermione stopped Draco from butting in. "…it's not because of my job. If we disable the war, then all hell will break lose. Voldemort will terrorize the world more than the phantom will terrorize us. I don't care if I die, I know it'll be better than Voldemort reigning the world."

"There's nothing we can do about it. It's either we disable the war, or he attacks." Veronica had rehearsed this many times under the beating of the phantom.

Hermione stared at Veronica. "Whose side are you on?"

Veronica quickly looked away and thankfully didn't have to answer because Draco shoved Veronica out of the way. Hermione quickly stood.

"Watch it! You could have hurt her!"

Suddenly, something clicked in Draco's head.

Hermione ran to Veronica, put her hands on her shoulders and tried to look her in the eyes. Draco pulled Hermione away and practically threw her to back where she was sitting. He turned to Fudge.

"Fine, if you don't want to meet his wishes, then maybe we could give him something that'll make him stop." Draco slightly nodded his head to Hermione so that he thought only Fudge would understand.

Unfortunately, she understood what he meant.

"What? You're going to give me to him like a sacrifice? There's no use wooing me to do it, so don't bother." She stated.

Draco grabbed Hermione's arm and yanked her up. "She'll do it."

Harry abruptly stood up and winced. Hermione pulled her arm out of Draco's grasp and helped Harry sit back down.

"No she won't." Harry said with some difficulty.

Draco glowered at Harry. "He wants her you know. He won't stop terrorizing us until he has her."

He kneeled next to Harry. "You should give her up." His voice lowered to no more than a whisper. "The phantom will stop at nothing to get her. He loves her and will never love anyone else."

At this, Veronica's eyes started to water. Lizzie looked over to Veronica and noticing this, Lizzie asked her, "Something in your eye?"

Veronica dabbed her eyes and nodded.

Rain pelted on the windows as the hour grew close to midnight. The masquerade was long over, and Veronica had come back to the ministry as soon as she had freshened up. By the time she had arrived, the phantom had already made his request and vanished.

"That's enough of this nonsense, Draco! There will be no sacrifices made whatsoever!"

Draco stood and turned to Fudge. "I think that Potter shall have to make a sacrifice, in order to save her!" Draco pointed wildly at Hermione. He was losing his temper.

"No! She doesn't want to go and neither do I! I love her!" Harry retorted. He was going to add the fact that they were engaged, but Hermione looked at Harry with a silencing look.

"But who will he target to GET to her? WHO!" Draco addressed to the room.

"None of this is necessary Draco! I'm sure…"

"DON'T YOU GET IT?" Draco roared and rounded onto Fudge. "THE PHANTOM WILL EVENTUALLY TARGET HIM," He pointed at Harry. "TO GET TO HER!"

Draco started calming down a bit. "If the phantom does not get what he wants…" Draco smirked. "then 'The Boy Who Lived' will be changed to 'The Boy who Died'… touching… isn't it? And all before Voldemort's downfall… tut tut…" Draco recomposed his subtleness and softly laughed, "…we'll never kill him."

Draco then resumed his original spot and took in all of his satisfaction. Fudge was now pacing again, occasionally looking towards Harry and Hermione. After about two minutes of silence, Fudge knew that the meeting was over.

"Hermione, I think you should take Harry to St. Mungo's. He looks pretty badly wounded."

Hermione nodded and apparated with Harry. Veronica glanced at the clock nervously.

It was ten minutes to midnight.

Draco noticed this and cleared his throat, calling Veronica's attention to him.

"I'm going to go now. Ms. Veronica, shall I show you out?"

Lizzie felt something wasn't right. After Draco and Veronica left, Lizzie went to follow in hot pursuit. They went into the lab and Lizzie followed. When they were in the lab, Lizzie stepped into the room, but then quickly shuffled out of the room and hung around by the door.

Draco stopped Veronica. "The phantom has been waiting for so long. You'd better give us that information."

Lizzie almost gasped. _She was helping them?_

"Draco, I already refused to help you…"

"You know you want to."

"You bastard!"

Lizzie peeked in and caught a glimpse of the unfolding scene. Veronica had whipped around and raised her hand as to slap him. Draco clenched it tightly. While struggling, Veronica looked in the direction where Lizzie was and her gaze stayed on Lizzie for a moment too long. Lizzie quickly slid out of sight.

"What are you looking at?"

Lizzie's heart started racing at top speed.

"N-Nothing."

Lizzie dared another peek. She saw Draco looking at the top of the stair case. Veronica had changed her gaze to the ground. After a minute though, he gave up and threw Veronica's arm away from him. Draco crossed to the other side of the lab.

"You didn't need to grip so hard." Veronica said, massaging her wrist.

Draco sat in a chair. "You didn't need to retort."

Lizzie slid quietly down one step to get a better view.

Veronica sat down on the floor. "I shouldn't be here. I mean, what if they find out about us?"

Draco laughed softly. "If they do, then you'll be the one to take the blame."

Veronica dropped her jaw in surprise. "Me! No, it'll be you who'll take the blame."

"Do you think I'd really take the blame of all the crimes that you've committed? Would you like me to list them off?"

"They happened because I was younger and more naïve. They were stupid mistakes and I won't do them again."

"Ah! But then something else comes in!" Draco stood and looked down on Veronica. She rose as he spoke. "You will do what the phantom says… because you love him. But he doesn't love you… yet. I think that if you keep doing his orders, he may come around to love you."

Lizzie gripped the stairway railing tightly. _Don't do it Veronica! It's a trap! Don't betray Hermione!_

Veronica looked away; it was too painful to talk about him. Draco knew that he had hit a soft spot.

"Yes; of course you'd want to show the phantom that you are worthy of being loved… right? What about Hermione?"

Draco then lowered his voice to a whisper that only Veronica could hear. "All the better getting rid of that mudblood so that he's yours…" he whispered into her ear.

Veronica sighed. "What are you suggesting? Exile?"

"Draco laughed a laugh that filled the room and parted the silence.

"Crucio!" Draco raised his wand to Veronica.

Veronica tried holding back her pain, to show Draco she was strong, but she couldn't. Tears flowed thick and fast down her face and she let out a scream. Lizzie gasped and Draco unfortunately heard.

Draco ended it and quickly turned to face the stairs. Lizzie ducked just out of time. She heard Veronica's limp body fall to the floor and her almost silent sobs.

"I know someone's in here." He turned to the whimpering Veronica. "Shut up or you'll get us caught." Draco muttered and started running to the stairs.

That was all Lizzie could see before retreating out of the room. She ran out and hid in a cubical. Draco emerged from the room looking around. A rasping sound came from Lizzie's cubical. Draco started walking slowly to it. Lizzie suddenly clasped her hand over her mouth. Draco stopped when the rasping stopped. He looked around again.

Nothing.

Draco then retreated back to the lab. Lizzie crawled back to her safety zone and peeked in again. Veronica was still on the floor, only to be kicked onto her back by Draco.

"P-please help…" she knew it was foolish to ask him, but she was desperate. He ignored her and crossed to the closet.

Lizzie had had enough. She turned to go get help when she suddenly fell down the stairs.

Draco saw her. He muttered an incantation and Lizzie felt something crack in her leg.

"_Crap!_" she muttered under her breath. It didn't matter now, she had been discovered.

"Language, my dear, language… young women shouldn't have such a vulgar vocabulary." Draco sneered at the helpless girl.

He summoned her over and she fell onto her broken leg. Veronica looked up and entered the strange scene. She saw Lizzie lying on the ground with Draco's wand at the ready.

"D-Draco… what are you doing…?"

Draco kicked her.

"This slut followed us from Fudge's office. What'd you hear?"

Draco kicked Lizzie again. She glared at him.

"Nothing you bastard. I was just passing by."

"Oh yes! Of course you were! What was Veronica looking at? What did I hear scuttling up the stairs? What fell down the stairs to their own death?"

"Well I'm still alive! How could you say that I fell to my death?" Lizzie retorted at him. She knew perfectly well what he meant, she knew though that he wouldn't have the guts to perform the curse.

Draco smiled. "I could kill you right here and now."

"NO!" Veronica staggered up and grabbed Draco's wand arm. "YOU WON'T KILL HER! NOT ON MY WATCH!"

Draco shook her off and she fell to the ground agains. "You see, this is the kind of behavior that makes the phantom second guess you. And didn't I already tell you to shut the hell up?"

Draco charmed Lizzie with the silencing charm.

"You'll be punished for your disloyalty."

Then, "Crucio."

No sound came out of Lizzie's mouth; that potential scream was overpowered by the silencing charm. Veronica looked on in horror. She leapt up and started attacking him

"NO! STOP IT DRACO! STOP IT!"

He lifted the curse and threw Veronica off.

"I think we need to go..._now_" Draco said icily.

He removed the silencing charm from Lizzie. She was panting

"Mobilcorpus."

Lizzie was raised into the air. Draco walked into the closet with Lizzie magically trailing behind him. Veronica quickly got up and walked alongside Lizzie.

"Veronica, what's going on?"

"Maybe I can get this spell to stop working…" Veronica whispered to herself.

She pointed her wand at Lizzie and opened her mouth to say the charm. Suddenly, she was clutched around her neck by Draco.

"Hand your wand over." Draco said very coldly.

"No." Veronica shook her head. Draco tightened his grip.

"You were saying?"

Very reluctantly, she gave her wand to him and he let go. She gasped for air and started coughing. Draco moved on.

"Wait!" Veronica heaved. She got up once more and joined Lizzie who was trying to fight the curse.

"I'm so sorry Lizzie! I didn't mean for this to happen! I …"

"I don't care… why are you doing this? What the bloody hell is going on?"

Veronica didn't know where to start.

"Why are you betraying Hermione?"

"I'm not! I want all of this to stop!"

"But what about that conversation with Draco back there? You don't trust him do you!"

"No… but he'll help me to make the phantom…"

Veronica suddenly became interested in the types of rocks on the wall.

"Veronica."

She looked over to Lizzie. "You can tell me."

It wasn't fear that filled Lizzie's eyes, it was confusion. She couldn't understand why a friend would betray another friend. Under no circumstances would she have done that.

"I love him, you probably heard that, but he loves Hermione… and I know that Hermione couldn't give a damn about him. She doesn't appreciate him for who he is. She…"

…Is in great danger because you are helping him. Veronica, leave him! Don't help him! He's trying to hurt you and the ones that you love… he's trying to disconnect you from us."

"I had to… Lizzie…you wouldn't understand…it's almost like… I want to leave him, but I can't. Oh Lizzie, I would give anything to love him and to leave him…but I can't betray him…"

"I would."

Draco stopped and turned around.

"Stop chatting away back there. We don't want anyone to hear us, would we?" he smiled a wicked grin "Veronica, come up here."

Veronica scurried up to Draco, leaving Lizzie behind. He then continued walking on. The trio walked in silence for the rest of the journey.

Finally, they reached the end of the cavern.

"Here we are." Draco led them into the cavern.

The phantom was sitting in his throne-like chair. His festivities were gone and replaced with his regular black robe.

Draco approached him with Veronica. The phantom stood.

"What have we here?" he asked Draco, nodding to Lizzie.

"A spy." Draco took off his curse. Lizzie collapsed to the floor. She couldn't run for it even if her leg wasn't broken. Draco had sealed the doorway, leaving no way out.

"Enchanted to meet you..." the phantom said gliding to Lizzie and held out his hand.

Lizzie slapped away his. "Well I'm not."

"I see." the phantom knelt next to Lizzie and grasped her neck.

"YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T HURT ANYONE!" Veronica tried to run to Lizzie, only to be held back by Draco. The phantom lifted her up and she tried prying his hands open so that she could breathe. The phantom clutched Lizzie's throat even tighter, now she was dangerously close to suffocation, when he suddenly let go.

Lizzie fell and massaged her throat, coughing a little. The phantom continued to stare at her.

"You shouldn't have followed her." The phantom said indicating to Veronica. "Spying isn't what pure young women should be doing." He laughed a cold and mirthless laugh.

"Maybe I'm not pure. No one is, especially you." Lizzie then spat at the phantom's feet. Veronica struggled against Draco, but he only tightened his grip on her arms. Veronica then stamped onto Draco's foot and he loosened his grip a little bit, just enough for Veronica to break free. She ran from him to in front of Lizzie.

"You're not harming her." She said in a way that was almost menacing. "Not on my life."

The phantom sighed. "Killing you would be a waste of time… right? So I'll make a promise all right? I won't lay a single bloody finger on her head. Satisfied?"

"No." Veronica firmly stated.

"BLOODY SLUT!"

Growling impatient, the phantom magicked Veronica away from Lizzie. Turning his attention away from Veronica, he rounded onto Lizzie.

"I told you your day would come…didn't I?"

Lizzie started crawling away from the phantom.

"Y-You said today wasn't it. You swore…" she pointed vaguely at his hand. "…o-on your blood…you swore…"

The phantom knelt down onto one knee and leaned in close to the terrified Lizzie.

"Oh yes." he said in a whisper that only she could hear. "Oh yes, but that was yesterday… wasn't it?"

Lizzie shook her head rather violently. But suddenly, she heard a large chime of the clock.

Midnight.

"No." she whispered to herself.

The phantom smiled. "Yes." he whispered in reply.

The second chime sounded.

The phantom stood and got his wand pointed at Lizzie.

Veronica realized what he was going to do.

The third chime sounded.

"NO!" Veronica reached for her wand and paused. Draco was twirling it in his fingers with a wicked smirk on his face.

The fourth chime sounded.

"Feel honored, you're my first victim…"

The phantom laughed unmercifully under his breath.

The fifth chime sounded.

Veronica ran over to the phantom and started pulling him away and making him look at her. He whipped around and slapped her.

The sixth chime sounded.

Veronica ran her hand over her cheek and opened her mouth in awe. While Veronica was recovering, Lizzie got up painfully and started limping to the wall. Veronica lunged again at the phantom.

The seventh chime sounded.

"YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T LAY A FINGER ON HER!" Veronica wailed.

"HELP!" Lizzie cried to the wall, hoping that someone would hear her on the other side.

The eighth chime sounded.

"I'M NOT!" The phantom threw her to the ground and rounded on Lizzie.

"SOMEBODY…PLEASE!" Lizzie pounded on the wall.

It was no use.

The ninth chime sounded.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Lizzie's scream pierced through all the commotion as the green light came in contact with her body.

The tenth chime sounded.

Lizzie's body fell to the foot of the wall and lay there, unmoving. Veronica watched in horror as the phantom kicked Lizzie's body so that her face faced the ceiling.

The eleventh chime sounded.

The phantom grinned wickedly. "The promise is broken, and a new day begun."

The twelfth chime sounded.

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	8. Secrets Kept, and Discoveries Made

This chapter might be a little grotesque, so be forewarned.

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The phantom pocketed his wand and left Lizzie lying there. The only sounds to be heard were the phantom's footsteps to his chair and Veronica's sobs. Draco left the crying woman and went to talk to the phantom.

Veronica crawled over to Lizzie's body and stared into her scared and empty eyes. The tears continued to fall.

_What had she done? _

She had sold her friend to death… hardly did anything to protect her. She should have told Lizzie to go back when Draco saw her… to go back and get help.

She'd basically murdered her friend… one of her only friends… other than Kelley, Elise, and… what about Hermione? Was Hermione her friend?

She had ignored the fact that another man loved her. She had put his life in misery by loving another. He was evil because of her. If Hermione had just loved him… then he wouldn't be evil and wouldn't be killing others.

If Hermione didn't exist, then Lizzie would still be alive.

The phantom walked to Draco. "We need to make sure she won't tell anyone what has happened."

Draco nodded and drew his wand. He started to cross to Veronica when the phantom put his hand on Draco's shoulder.

"But first, let me talk to her." The phantom crossed to Veronica, leaving Draco behind.

The phantom knelt next to the weeping woman. He put his hand on her shoulder as a reminder of the consequences that would happen if she didn't do as she was told.

"W-Why? Why did t-this … have… to happen?" Veronica whispered between her sobs.

"Some things are unavoidable. This was one of those things. But it could have been avoided if she hadn't been so nosy."

Veronica glared at him. "Nosy? She _cared _about me, not like you. She followed me for my own PROTECTION! SHE GAVE A DAMN ABOUT ME, NOT LIKE YOU!"

The phantom quickly stood and drew his wand. Veronica paused and stared at the wood that was touching her forehead. The phantom smiled.

"You were saying?" he asked almost like a threat. Veronica shook her head.

"She had to be gotten rid of. She knew too much." The phantom said quietly.

"Why didn't you kill me then? Why didn't you kill me when I found out about you?" Veronica asked weakly.

"I needed you. You were the only one who'd help me in here. You're more useful than you think you are. Don't think that since I don't love you that I don't need you."

Veronica looked away from him. _You _will_ love me…I've given up too much for you. _Yet, a sinking feeling in her stomach told her that now she'd rather be dead than helping him… it was too much to bear.

The phantom lowered his wand and pulled Veronica up. She followed him, only because she was too distressed to argue.

_What if Hermione found out? _

Draco crossed to the couple and put his wand on top of the phantom's and Veronica's hands.

"Look me in the eye." The phantom said softly.

Veronica obeyed, showing her tear stained face to him.

"You will not mention this to anyone until I have made my message, understood?"

Veronica nodded. An orange snake burst out of Draco's wand and circled the linked hands.

It was the Unbreakable Vow. She had done this so many times before.

"You will not mention who was her murderer, right?"

Veronica looked over at Lizzie's crumpled body and almost refused. Then the phantom gave a little squeeze on her hand and she looked back at him. She nodded feverishly. A second snake rushed out of Draco's wand and did the same thing that the other snake had done.

She knew what the last statement was.

"And you will not mention… not to anybody… what my true identity is."

Veronica nodded hesitantly. She watched in disgust as the final snake intertwined the other two snakes for a second before they all disappeared.

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_Dear Hermione,_

_Every night, I think of you. You light up my world and give it warmth. Come to me. Leave the traitor who has cost you so much. If you are with him, more will die…_

_I love you._

There was no signature. Frustrated, she threw the note on her desk and slumped down into her chair.

Hermione looked out of the window in her office. Lately, she hadn't been feeling good about anything. Even when Harry was around, she wanted him to leave her alone.

Part of it had to do with Lizzie, whom she hadn't seen in about a week. She had sent in notices of illness, but Lizzie was practically immune to anything including a common cold. And wouldn't St. Mungo's have sent the ministry anything if she was seriously injured or sick?

Another part was Harry. She loved him more than anything that existed. But flashes of what Draco had said the week before flashed through her mind… _"__THE PHANTOM WILL EVENTUALLY TARGET HIM, TO GET TO HER ... 'The Boy Who Lived' will be changed to 'The Boy who Died'… and all before Voldemort's downfall…we'll never kill him."_

Hermione was worried for Harry's safety more than her own. It didn't matter if she died, but if Harry died, then Voldemort would conquer death at last….

And all would be lost.

"Hermione?"

It was Harry.

"Uh…I'm busy…" Hermione shuffled some papers around.

"No you're not, I need to talk to you."

_Think Hermione! THINK!_

"Uh…can't you come sometime later? I really need to…"

"Now."

Hermione sighed. Harry won.

"Come in."

She avoided eye contact with him as he came in and sat down.

"It's five o'clock. You should start heading home soon." Harry flicked his wand and the door closed.

"I-I need to work a bit over time… Fudge's ordering a new project to come out soon and I…"

Harry put up his hand to stop her from changing the subject.

"Please," Harry pleaded her, "tell me what's going on. Something about you has changed ever since Lizzie's been sick. Something's wrong and you should be able to tell me these things."

She sighed. "Lizzie's been gone for a week now, and I'm really worried about her. Also, I got another letter." She handed him the letter.

Harry read it and shook his head in disbelief. "_leave the traitor…_? Who does he mean? Me?"

"Apparently… but you're no traitor, he's just trying to manipulate you…"

Harry threw the letter back onto the desk. "When I find him, I'm going to kill him. He's caused you enough trouble. You shouldn't have to suffer through this. This sounds like the phantom's trying to ask you for forgiveness for something. It just seems like it. But never mind, there also is something else that's on your mind."

Hermione finally made eye contact with him. "Harry, I'm just worried about… you."

Harry was startled, "Me? Why would you be worried about me? Sure Voldemort's out to get me… oh come on." Hermione had tensed up a little bit at his name. "You never used to react to his name after our fifth year. Why are you worried about me?"

Hermione sighed again and started fidgeting with her bracelet. "Harry, I… was just thinking about what Draco had said to Fudge the night of the masquerade. He said that the phantom would target you to get to me. He said that the phantom would kill you. It seems to me that Draco and the phantom know each other."

Harry leaned over and tried to catch her eye contact once more. "The people you should be concerned about are Lizzie, Veronica, and yourself. I'm not on that list. You do not have to worry about me."

Hermione stood rather quickly. "Yes I do Harry, because _you're_ the one in the greatest danger on the earth,_ you're _the one being hunted by Voldemort, and _he knows where you are._ Isn't that enough reason to worry?"

Harry got up, went around the desk and grasped her shoulders. "Hermione, look at me."

She refused.

"_Please_ look at me." He pleaded her. She succumbed and Harry saw her eyes were full of tears. "Promise me, that if Voldemort does find me and kill me, then you won't waste your life mourning about me. Alright? I'm not everything in your life, you have a life as well. Promise?"

Hermione shook her head. A tear fell from her eye. Harry wiped it away with his thumb.

"Everything will be fine."

"No Harry," Hermione shook her head again. "Things have changed since we were children. We were young and naïve. We could convince ourselves that summer was winter and that love was an easy game to play. We could pretend that none of this ever happened. Hell… we could pretend that everyone was at peace with one another! But we're not children anymore. We can't brush these things off like we used to. There's no Dumbledore to protect you."

"I just have to protect myself then."

Hermione shook her head and launched herself into an embrace. Harry held Hermione close to him while she started crying on his shoulder.

"Everything's going to be alright."

"I… I don't want to lose you."

Harry didn't reply, for he knew that nothing was going to be alright.

A knock on the door interrupted their tender moment. Hermione broke the embrace and wiped her eyes dry.

"One moment!" Harry bellowed through the door.

"It can't wait! It's serious!"

Harry turned to Hermione. "You ready?"

She nodded dismissively.

The knock came again.

"Fine!" Harry opened the door to a young ministry woman; probably one of the internships from Hogwarts. She pushed past Harry, muttered an apology and turned Hermione around.

"Hermione! Something's happened and you really need to see!"

"Can't it wait? I'm just about to leave. If it's Fudge…"

"No… you need to come…"

Harry butted in. "Look, it can wait until the morning…"

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME!" the woman silenced Harry. "It's about Lizzie."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other worriedly.

"What is it?" Hermione interrogated the woman.

"Y-You'll see." She stammered as she ran out the door.

"WAIT!" Harry bellowed after her. The couple raced after the woman.

The ministry woman hurried down the hallway. The couple followed her down until she stopped.

"Over there." The woman pointed to the middle of the hallway. Harry and Hermione followed her gaze and Hermione screamed. A crowd started to form as they peered and craned their necks to see what had happened. Fudge came to the front and stopped his strutting abruptly.

"What the hell happened here!"

In the middle of the hallway was Lizzie. She was floating about three feet above the ground and an eerie green light surrounded her. Her eyes were open… and staring right at Hermione. Suddenly, the green light vanished, and Lizzie's body fell to the ground. Her head still continued to float and stare at Hermione.

Maniacal laughter broke out and rang in the hallways.

Hermione ran into Harry's arms for protection. Everyone wanted to leave, but they were afraid to do so… because of the man floating over the corpse.

The phantom smiled to himself, for he had shown the ministry that he had power.

But then he saw Hermione, how scared she was, and who she had chosen for her protection. He clenched his fists in rage and glided slowly to her.

Harry was in such a shock he didn't move. Hermione looked to see if Lizzie's corpse had gone, but she saw the phantom and froze as well.

"See what happens to those who stand in my way?" he bellowed gesturing to Lizzie, "See what happens when I don't have my requirements met? SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU UNDERESTIMATE ME?"

The whole hallway was frozen. Harry tried to shield Hermione from the phantom's gaze.

The phantom drew his wand and touched it to Harry's throat. "You'd better do as I tell you in this letter," here he conjured a letter and held it out to Harry, "…or the wizarding world will be at the mercy of the Dark Lord."

The phantom jabbed into Harry's throat once more and then turned his attention to Hermione. This gave Harry a little time to have his hand ready to pull out his wand. Once she made eye contact with him, she buried her face into Harry's shoulder to hide her silent tears.

"Hermione… please… all will be well if Potter will give you to me… and I will care for you… not like he has… putting you in all this danger…"

"Harry's trying to protect me!" Hermione shrieked at him. She looked in his eyes and suddenly felt sympathy for him… how lonely he must feel, what fate would lie ahead for him… was there anyone who really loved him?

The phantom reached out his hand to wipe away Hermione's tears when Harry aimed his wand for the phantom's chest.

"Don't you dare touch her." Harry said menacingly. The phantom glided back a bit and dropped the note at Harry's feet. The phantom aimed his wand at the ceiling.

"_Mors Mordre_." He muttered and the Dark Mark appeared over Lizzie's body.

Many wizards drew their wands and cast the stunning spell all at once. When the red flashes cleared, there was no one.

He was gone.

Then the hall broke out into chaos. People were trying to relocate Lizzie's body, notify her parents, and scheming up plans to kill the phantom.

"He's done us enough trouble!"

"He will be damned to the depths of hell!"

"KILLING A YOUNG WOMAN!"

"AND HE'S THINKING THAT WE'LL STOP THE WAR AGAINST YOU-KNOW-WHO!"

Then many shouts and havoc broke out. Harry picked up the letter and examined it. It was sealed with red wax in the shape of a skull.

"H-Harry… let's go… please…" Hermione whimpered.

He stood and walked Hermione back to her office.

"It's alright, he's gone now, nothing's going to happen." He said softly, trying to comfort her. Hermione shook her head.

"N-no!" she cried, "Nothing's a-alright! He just threatened to… to kill you and …he's just killed Lizzie! SHE DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE! SHE DIED BECAUSE OF ME!"

Hermione looked at Harry and saw that his eyes were starting to water. Harry hated seeing Hermione so distressed and see that she was losing the only people that she ever loved… like he did when he lost his parents.

Then they reached her office. Harry sat her down (wiped his eyes) and sat in the chair next to hers.

Hermione let the tears fall. It wasn't on an ordinary basis that she cried, and had almost never experienced mourning and sadness to this extreme. One of her best and only friends had been murdered by someone she thought she could trust at first, and now that same person had threatened to kill the only thing that kept her sane. It was just too much for her.

"Hermione, rest… please… you need to get some sleep. You've been through a lot…"

Hermione nodded and Harry stood so she could stretch out on the two chairs. She lay down and cried herself to sleep. When she was all settled, Harry took the envelope and tore it apart and quickly read through it.

_Mr. Potter,_

_It has come to my attention that you are standing in between me and what I want. Ms. Hermione Granger is not happy with the accommodations that you are setting for her. She is not happy that you are protecting her too much to face the issue on her own and that you're bugging her to make her tell you every thing… even the lie that she loves you. For she loves another, a man that can give her more choice, more freedom, more power, and more magic. Not some pathetic man with his fame etched on his forehead in a lightning bolt. _

_The eleventh of December, remember? The day that I mysteriously vanished… that day that I left you alone… and look at the damage that that's done. You've captured an innocent soul that needs to be set free, a beautiful woman waiting for the right person to carry her off into the sunset, that perfect man… that perfect mate. _

_I am that perfect person. I have waited in the shadows for too long. It's your turn to burn in hell… your turn to watch from your prison as Ms. Granger and I live a life of perfection…a life of love… a life of TRUE love. I will make sure that you have been locked away in the shadows where you belong._

_The eleventh of December will mark my final request. Bring Ms. Granger to the grave of her father along with the information that I have requested in this packet. It's written on the back._

_With all due respect,_

_The Phantom of the Ministry_

"How the hell would I know where her father's grave is?" Harry muttered to himself.

Harry turned the letter over and read the messy scrawl.

_Voldemort's confidential information about whereabouts and attack information_

Harry frowned. Nobody would want that sort of information unless that person was….

Something clicked in Harry's head.

The phantom of the ministry was a Death Eater.

'_Shit! Why didn't I realize that!'_ Harry thought to his self. Only a Death Eater knew how to conjure the Dark Mark…

Harry looked at Hermione, then back at the note. Wasn't it treachery… for a Death Eater to love a muggleborn? Voldemort would find out soon enough… but not only would the Death Eater be killed… but Hermione would be as well…

Harry looked at Hermione who now looked peacefully asleep, not knowing what more danger she had just gotten herself into.

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I didn't really like this chapter… but wte. Please review!


	9. Veronica's Confession

oO0Oo! Poor phantom, yet again.

Chappie…. I've lost count… u check

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_In Memorial of Lizzie (in the story)_

"_Naught but the sky is falling…" Lizzie_

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"Veronica!"

Veronica whipped around, her wand at the ready. She couldn't trust anyone anymore… not after what happened to Lizzie.

"Oh, it's you." She pocketed her wand. It was Draco.

"I don't have time for that. Is the mudblood – "

"DON'T CALL HER THAT." Veronica snarled at him and almost drew her wand out again.

Draco was quicker. He already had his wand out and aimed. "I knew you were going to do that. And don't shout, you could really draw attention like that."

"Well shut up and stop acting like you're my parent. 'Cause you're not, you're a filthy –"

Draco raised his hand and Veronica fell silent. "I don't have time. I'm expected in a meeting in ten minutes. It contains information helpful to the phantom. I need you to persuade the… _Granger_ that the only option _is _to go to the phantom."

"No." Veronica glared at Draco, "I'm NOT going to help you anymore. And no, I'm not going to help him either! HE MURDERED ONE OF MY FRIENDS!"

Draco looked taken back. "You don't care about him anymore? He meant everything to you just a few measly days ago! _You sold your friend to death because you loved him_."

Veronica turned her back on Draco. He never had to yell to tell her the most important things.

"Hermione is one of my only friends left. I won't betray her…I can't lose her like I lost Lizzie. I won't let it happen." Veronica walked away from Draco.

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Hermione tapped her fingers on her desk, staring mindlessly at a memo from Fudge. She squinted and stared at the fine print, not able to concentrate. Finally, she folded the memo into a paper airplane and magicked it into the rubbish bin. It probably wasn't important.

"Granger?"

Hermione looked up at the door. It was Draco.

"What are you doing here?" she spat at him.

Draco sat down without an invitation. "Granger, I came to talk to you about the phantom."

Hermione stood. "I'm not going to discuss this with anyone. I feel very strong about my decision and I choose to stand by it."

"You're accepting?" Draco picked up one of Hermione's muggle pens. He opened the cap and ink spurted out all over him.

Hermione's cheeks turned a pale shade of pink. "That's beside the point Draco."

"Tell me." Draco siphoned the ink off of his cloak.

"I'm refusing." Hermione sat back down, "Harry and I are engaged… and I will never let Harry die. The phantom _can't_ get anywhere near him… there's all this new security… the only way he could get to him is if some one on the inside was helping him."

"What if I told you that there is someone helping him?" Draco smirked at Hermione.

"You'd just be pulling my leg."

"No I wouldn't be. Ask me to take Veritaserum and I would gladly tell you that someone is going to help the phantom kill Harry if you refuse."

Hermione drew in her breath.

"T-That's impossible! _No one _that I know would do something like that!"

"Oh yes someone would." Draco placed the pen back onto Hermione's desk and looked her in the eye. "And I happen to know who it is."

Hermione gaped at him. "Who would? Who in the ministry would want to kill Harry?"

Draco shrugged. "I made the unbreakable vow with the person. I cannot say."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "I can't… _I don't _believe that someone in the ministry is ready to kill Harry if I refuse… Harry means everything to me…."

"If he really means everything to you, then you'd go to the phantom for his own safety." Draco stood. "I really must be going. Good day, oh, and Fudge wants to see us in his office at six. That's what the memo is."

Draco turned to leave. Hermione stood.

"Wait… you've loathed Harry since the first moment you met him. You're not…?"

Draco laughed softly. "No, rest assured, I'm not that person."

Hermione sighed. "I want to stay with Harry, but I don't want him to die…"

"If you refuse, Potter's going to die. There's no other option."

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"I've made up my mind." Hermione stated quite steadily.

She was in Fudge's office once more. Harry, Veronica, Draco, and Pansy were also called for the meeting.

"I'm going to go." Hermione quickly looked at the floor; avoiding the surprised and hurt stare of Harry.

Fudge stood with such a start that it surprised everyone.

"NO!"

Hermione rose her head. It wasn't Harry (or Fudge) who'd shouted out the protest. It was Veronica.

"Veronica, I have to! Someone in the ministry is standing by to kill Harry if I don't! I don't want to… but I must…"

Veronica glared at Draco who returned the favor.

"I won't let it happen." She spat, still glaring at Draco. "I'm not going to lose another friend. Not like I lost Lizzie."

"I've got to go! You don't understand! JUST BECAUSE I'M HERE I'VE BEEN THE CAUSE OF TWO DEATHS!"

"No Hermione!" Veronica grabbed Hermione's shoulders, "You can't! You can't leave us! I'll make sure that you'll never go to him. You don't need to…"

Draco clutched Veronica's arm. "_Yes she does._" He said very icily, "He won't rest until Granger is his."

He let go and returned to his spot.

Fudge paced around, but then sat back down in his office chair. This would hurt his career, if his assistant had run off with a mad man.

Veronica rounded onto Draco. "AT LEAST I'M TRYING TO PROTECT ANOTHER PERSON! I'M NOT GOING TO STAND BY AND LET IT HAPPEN! I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE ANOTHER FRIEND! I'M NOT GOING TO –"

Veronica clutched her throat and coughed. Draco had his wand out and pointed at Veronica's throat.

"EXPELIARMUS!" Hermione roared at Draco.

His wand flew out of his hand and Veronica fell to the floor. Hermione ran to her and helped her up.

"YOU BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Harry shouted at Draco.

"Trying to keep her in line." Draco I must be going now… this was a waste of my time."

With that, Draco left the office, slamming the door behind him.

"Why's Draco's best friends with Veronica all of a sudden?" Harry whispered to Hermione.

She shrugged and stood. "I need to go… get some fresh air."

Harry stopped her from leaving. "You can't…not in all of this danger."

Hermione wrenched herself from Harry's grip. "Potter, I know what danger I'm in. Frankly, I think that you're in more danger than I'll ever be in. I can perfectly well walk outside of this building…can't I?"

Then she stormed out of the room.

Harry sat back down. "I blew it didn't I?"

"You did pretty badly." Pansy scoffed.

"It was a rhetorical question." Harry emphasized every word.

"DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE?" Pansy squealed.

Harry looked away and Pansy sat back down.

"You did pretty bad though, really." She said matter-of-factly.

"Hypocrite." Harry mumbled.

"SHUT YOUR TRAPS." Fudge roared.

That shut the two of them up.

Fudge put his head in his hands. "I-I don't know what to do… my life's going to be ruined…"

Harry stood. "We're all stressed; we've all had much to deal with. Especially Hermione and Veronica. They were two of Lizzie's best friends. She was my friend too. Fudge, everything isn't going to be under your control…"

Harry's eyes wandered over to Veronica. She was rocking in her chair… like the night that Lizzie disappeared. …

Something clicked in Harry's head.

"… I need to leave now… hey Veronica, I need to talk to you."

Veronica nodded vaguely and Harry followed her out of the room.

Once out of earshot, Harry grabbed her arm. "You're going to tell me everything you know about the phantom. I know that you know something and you're going to spill the beans right now."

Veronica struggled to get free. "LET GO OF ME." She started hitting his wrist.

Harry stopped walking and faced her. "Look, you were acting really weird, not like you in Fudge's office, and you were acting like you were the night Lizzie disappeared. Plus you're acting strange now. You know what's going on and you know the phantom."

Veronica focused more on getting free. "What are you talking about?"

Harry kept walking. "Where's somewhere that we won't be overheard?"

"The…" Veronica paused. This was her last chance to help Hermione. She stopped struggling. "…the lab. The one were we used to test trolls in… no one goes in there…and please let go… you're hurting me."

Harry let go, and Veronica hastily tried to cover her bruises on her forearm from Harry's view.

"This one?" Harry gestured at the door. Veronica nodded and ran in.

"Tell me what you know." Harry helped Veronica down into a chair.

Could she? Veronica thought hard… she didn't remember anything in the Unbreakable Vow that said she couldn't tell….

"It started two years ago… I was checking something in the lab… don't ask me what it was… I forgot. Anyway, an owl flew in… with a letter…"

"Who was it from?" Harry inquired as he conjured another chair.

"I CAN'T SAY."

Harry sat down, a little defeated.

"Anyway… it said that…some one had returned… and I was to help him… I was naïve back then…I helped him…it was so long ago… yet; it just seems like yesterday… I explored the lab… hoping to find somewhere that he could stay…and I did…

"Then he wanted me to do things…terrible things… he put me under the imperius curse, and…" Veronica looked away. "He made me tell him where you and Hermione were."

"YOU TOLD HIM WHERE HERMIONE AND I WERE?" Harry roared at her.

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO! AND IF YOU KEEP YELLING AT ME LIKE THIS I WON'T HELP YOU!"

Harry opened his mouth to retort, but though better of it and clenched it shut.

Veronica settled back down. "Can I continue on now? You done reprimanding me for something that I couldn't fight off?"

Harry plopped down in his chair, fuming.

"I still didn't understand what I was getting you two into… not until now. I had to obey him… he was so lonely… he _needed_ me…

"I kept helping him… and then I saw his true side… and learned his secrets… his past… he tortured me… he threatened to kill you two if I didn't keep doing as I was told…"

"Yet, he's still going to kill us in the end." Harry whispered to her, "Why'd you do this?"

"_I can't tell you._ He made me make an unbreakable vow…actually, numerous… that's what happened in Fudge's office… I got too close to revealing something… so I guess the spell was acting up…although it stopped when Hermione charmed his wand out of his hand… thought that he'd give me a little taste of what I was going to get myself into…

"Under the imperius curse, I told the phantom that you and Hermione were close… before you got engaged… Draco was trying to help me comply to the phantom's needs… but then the phantom found out you were engaged to her… and he loves her so much… and he was murderous… he took it out on me…"

She pulled back her sleeve. Harry gaped at the many bruises that still remained on her arm.

"I can't tell you anything else. If I did… I don't want to think about what would happen."

Harry made a movement as though to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but probably thought again about what she had done to them… it might not have been on purpose… but she still did it.

He stood. "Thanks for your time…" he seemed so cold to her. "It was really brave of you to tell what you did. Come on… let's get back…"

Veronica stood and led the way back up the stairs until…

"HOLY SHIT!"

Harry gripped the stair railing for support. Veronica turned around and raced back down, trying to help Harry.

"What happened! Tell me.. please! I can help you!" She tried to make him face her.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Harry broke free and ran up the stairs past Veronica.

She followed him up and into the hallway. Harry was panting, leaning against the wall. Veronica looked more closely and saw that Harry was clutching his scar.

"Is it…?"

"Voldemort." Harry muttered. "I haven't had one of these in a long time… it was pretty strong too…"

Harry remembered something. "Veronica, is the phantom a Death Eater?"

Veronica sharply drew in her breath. She couldn't say… it was a part of the unbreakable vow…

"I-I don't know…" Harry could tell she was lying.

"He is isn't he?"

Veronica looked away.

Harry turned to leave.

"Harry?"

Veronica had caught up to him.Her eyes widened. "Please… don't tell Hermione….what I told you… she'd be heartbroken… don't think of me as bad… I didn't want to help him… I have to though… please…I tried to save Lizzie…"

Veronica clutched her throat again and started gasping for air. She fell to her knees.

"VERONICA!" Harry aimed his wand at her. "FINITE INCANTATEM!"

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OMG!

Wut the hell just happened?

X

Mesa confuseeleleled. ha ha I'm hyper


	10. Into the Graveyard

Anuksunamun-Kalia – Thank you for all of the lovely reviews! I really enjoyed them!

Amelia – sorry you had to wait so long!

OK: I know that the phantom's lie is a bit far fetched but I DON'T CARE! ;-)

I'm so sorry that it took so long to post this chapter. I was getting a bit bored with the story, and I was also starting another one. (It'll be out when I've finished this one.)

I just _had _to use the song "You were once my one companion"… it's too beautiful not to use.

**Chapter 10 **

(PS: Hermione isn't gullible; she just doesn't know who to trust… she's going through desperate times)

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Veronica collapsed and didn't stir. Harry panicked.

"SOMEONE HELP!" he shouted out to anyone.

A minute passed by… no one came. Veronica was losing time… she needed immediate help.

Harry quickly dropped and felt for Veronica's pulse. There was barely a pulse, but it was still there.

"PEOPLE! THERE'S BEEN ANOTHER ATTACK!" he roared in desperation.

Draco came running around the corner. He saw Veronica and tensed up.

"Draco… she was telling me about the phantom when she suddenly just…" Harry searched for words, ignoring Draco's abnormal behavior.

"Kind of like what happened in Fudge's office? Oh and Harry, what you saw in Fudge's office, I wasn't trying to kill her, I was trying to heal her…" Draco mumbled his lie.

"Yeah, sure… we need to get her to St. Mungo's…. immediately…" Harry knew that Veronica had more to tell him about the phantom. "It looked like something involving an Unbreakable Vow."

Draco nodded and picked her up and strolled away.

As Draco was walking away, alarm bells went off in Harry's head. Draco wasn't going to take Veronica to St. Mungo's…

"No…!" Harry blurted out.

Draco stopped in his tracks and turned around. "What?"

"Uh…I…" Harry was searching for an answer.

_THINK HARRY! THINK!_

"I'll take her." He took Veronica from the suspicious Draco, "Notify Fudge and tell him what happened. Tell him that…" Harry paused.

"Yes?" Draco inquired.

"…Tell him that I went with Veronica." Harry rushed away with Veronica in his arms before Draco would change his mind.

Slowly, people started to crowd the hallways trying to get a better look of what was happening. Shouts began emerging from the crowd.

"What the hell happened?"

"Another victim!"

"Another attack!"

"Please! Tell us what happened!"

"SHUT UP!" Harry roared at the crowd. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

He pushed past the stunned people and he kept running to the lobby, where he stopped.

"Shit. Why didn't I think of apparating?"

He closed his eyes and vanished on the spot with Veronica still unconscious.

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The phantom waved his wand about, with the bright red light following it. Eventually, it formed into a rose, a beautiful rose. A petal fell, and it exploded, blowing the phantom off of his feet.

"Damn it." He stood up, and brushed the cave's dust off of his robes.

In the distance, a hoot could be heard. He turned around and saw an eagle owl flying at top speed over him. It dropped a note and suddenly disappeared.

The phantom did a double take. It wasn't common for owls to suddenly disappear… maybe it was being summoned back magically…

Sensing importance in the note, he ripped open the envelope and unfolded the letter.

_I have written to express my disappointment in your services to me. If this wasn't an important mission, you would be removed … _(The phantom shuddered)…_ Yet, seeing as this could result in a conquest over the ministry, I shall give you one last chance. Sources from another Death Eater in the ministry tell me that a mudblood by the name of Hermione Granger contains the information that I seek. From previous experience, she is a close relation to Mr. Potter. This not only will give us the information, but maybe we shall be able to finish Potter off as well. _

_Currently, Ms. Granger is located at the Westminster Chapel, strolling through the graveyard. I can guarantee you that she is there, I have my sources. _

_Capture her and bring her back. I shall be there when you return to interrogate her._

_The Dark Lord _

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Hermione slowly pushed open the gate. It creaked loudly as it opened even further.

Over the past month, Hermione had been visiting her father's grave. Sure the road getting there was a tad creepy, but she had managed it before. She went there for comfort, when she thought no one understood what she was going through… not even Harry.

She walked on hearing the gate clang closed behind her. Hermione looked back. All that was there was was the closed gate, and a fence surrounding the graveyard. She faced forward one more. She took in a deep breath and walked into the fog.

…_You were once my one companion…_

With every step she took, more dread filled Hermione. She hated coming here… yet she felt like something was commanding her to go on.

…You were all that mattered… 

She passed statues of angels, cold and heartless… just standing guard over the buried corpses.

…You were once a friend and father 

_Then my world was shattered…_

Hermione looked at everything differently… she saw the angels as devils and the mausoleums as gateways to hell. It frightened her.

…_Wishing you were somehow here again_

_Wishing you were somehow near…_

Realizing that she had stopped walking, she hurriedly continued on. She wanted to make this a very short stop.

…_Sometimes it seemed, if I just dreamed… some how you would be here…_

A flake of snow landed on her shoulder. Hermione stopped and stared at it. Then she brushed it off and walked once more.

…_Wishing I could hear your voice again_

_Knowing that I never would…_

More snow started to fall gracefully on top of the old snow that carpeted the concrete. The snow started to litter Hermione's hair as well.

…_Dreaming of you won't help me to do all that you dreamed I could…_

A lone lily at the foot of a gravestone caught Hermione's eye. She strayed off of her path and knelt to examine it.

…_Passing bells and sculpted angels_

_Cold and monumental…_

Sensing no danger around it, Hermione picked the lily up. It wilted in her hands.

…_Seem for you the wrong companions_

_You were warm and gentle…_

She stood, and still gazing at the lily, returned to her path. She just couldn't take her eyes off of the flower. It was abandoned, alone, and almost dying… almost the same situation that Hermione was in.

And then the phantom crept into her mind again… how he must have suffered… being alone for years… having no one to look to for help…

Why was she even giving him sympathy? He was the reason why her life was hell now. She was the cause of two murders… and one of them was her friend.

…_Too many years fighting back tears_

_Why can't the past just die ..._

She turned a corner and found herself looking at her father's grave.

…_Wishing you were somehow here again_

_Knowing we must say goodbye…_

Hermione approached the gravestone slowly. She held the lily very tightly; almost flattening out the stem.

…_Try to forgive teach me to live_

_Give me the strength to try!..._

"Father?" Hermione whispered. She knew no one was there, but she wanted to let her father know that she was here.

…_No more memories, no more silent tears_

_No more gazing across the wasted years…_

Hermione tentatively knelt in the snow. The snowfall started increasing a little bit.

…_Help me say goodbye…._

"Father, I know you'd think it's silly to… to know that I still talk with you… but I'm scared. The phantom…he killed Lizzie… and, I think he's going to kill Harry…"

The phantom stepped out from behind the statue of the angel of death and looked at the woman. Did she really have the information? He didn't want to hurt her.

' _She doesn't need to be harmed… she doesn't have the information…'_ he tried convincing his self.

'_If only I could just make her leave… then she wouldn't be a part of all of this…'_

Hermione stood and turned around to leave.

"Hermione." The phantom blurted out.

She whisked in the direction that she heard his voice and held her wand at the ready.

"You." She said. But she didn't feel the need to hate him.

"Hermione, I don't want to hurt you. I love you. You mean everything to me…"

"Well I don't love you, and if I mean everything to you, then why have you ruined my life?"

"I had no choice, I rather would have died than help kill your friend… only… I did… because she was helping Voldemort."

Hermione stepped away from him, her right hand itching to bring up her wand again. "I know that's not true… you're such a bad liar…"

The phantom sighed. "I know that this is a hard time for you to accept this. She would never seem the type…"

He took a few steps closer to Hermione.

"Yet that Potter is…"

She gaped at him. "Harry? A Death Eater? You're insane!"

"He never wants to let you out of his sight, does he? He's always protective of you… sure you might think that these are signs of love… but he's making sure you're still alive when he presents you to the Dark Lord. That is why I have been trying to get to you, to protect you from him… to warn you…"

"ENOUGH!" Hermione glared at him. "You're lying and you damn well know it."

"Would I lie to you?" The phantom looked at her with pleading eyes.

Hermione swore softly and stormed away from the phantom. She'd had enough of the pleading and begging, and certainly enough of the phantom. Slowly her angry marches ceased to walking, and then a halt. Something about the phantom's plea had been much different then anything she'd ever known before. She turned to look at the phantom, who was still in the same spot

"No…" she shook her head.

She sat in the newly fallen snow, tears brimming in her eyes.

"H-Harry loves me… he wouldn't kill me…it's not right… you're lying, I know it…" her voice cracked. The phantom sat down next to her.

"_I_ love you." He whispered. Hermione looked into his eyes. They were the most miserable eyes she had ever seen in her lifetime… full of regret, pain, and misery.

"HERMIONE!"

The couple both stood up in surprise, and Hermione dropped her lily. Harry was standing in the pathway, clutching his cloak to keep his self warm. The snow was falling harder, but it wasn't hard enough to hide the look of confusion and hurt he wore.

"Hermione… what are you doing?"

Hermione was lost for words, but was saved by the phantom when he drew his wand.

"Step away Death Eater. You've done enough to her already."

Harry stopped in his tracks. "What are you talking about? You're the Death Eater here! Why else would you want the information listed in that letter?"

"I'm sorry, you must be hallucinating. I have not written any letter to you and please explain _why_ I would write a letter to you in the first place." The phantom smiled faintly at Harry.

The phantom's calmness seemed to enrage Harry even more. Who would be able to go this long without cracking?

"Hermione," Harry pleaded to her. "Don't believe him, he's the Death Eater… why would I even help the one person that I'm destined to destroy? Please Hermione… you're the smartest girl that I know! _Don't listen to him.._"

"HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I'M ENGAGED TO HER!"

"DEATH EATER!"

"SHUT IT BOTH OF YOU!" Hermione cried out. The argument stopped immediately. Hermione lowered her volume.

"Harry," she walked toward him. "I never doubted you, I'm just so… so confused. It seems like… like the world is spinning too fast and there's nothing I can do about it…I just don't want to lose you Harry…"

_Your plan failed,_ the phantom's voice popped into his head again_, now it's time for the Dark Lord to deal with her…_

Instinctively, the phantom suddenly flew forward to the couple, grabbed Hermione's wrist and dragged her away.

"HERMIONE!" Harry grabbed his wand and aimed it at the phantom.

"Stupefy." A red bolt of light from the phantom's wand sped right to Harry's chest. Harry stopped in his tracks and could only watch the phantom drag Hermione to her fate.

Yet Hermione would not part from Harry. She dug out her wand and pointed it at the phantom.

"Impedimenta." She muttered. The phantom, taken by surprise, loosened his grip on Hermione, allowing her to break free. She ran to Harry and unfroze him, then the couple departed for the ministry via apparation.

As fast as he could, the phantom pointed his wand at his self.

"Fi…nite…..inca….ntat…em."

The curse lifted and the phantom fell onto the snow, coughing. He quickly stood and held his wand at the ready.

There was no one.

"Damn it!" he swore as he clutched his head. Not only had Hermione and _Potter_ escaped, but he had gotten a head rush from standing up so quickly. The phantom started to slowly cross to the gravestone of Mr. Granger.

_Imbecile, you let them escape, didn't you?_

"I- I just lost grip of her… I didn't mean to…"

_It doesn't matter now,_ the voice continued on, _All that matters is that the Dark Lord won't be to pleased when you return…_

"SHUT UP!" the phantom roared into the silence.

Suddnely, he heard a crunching sound from under his feet.

It was Hermione's lily that she had held.

The phantom bent down and picked it up. His step had caused some more of the petals to crumble and fall off, and the stem was almost split in two.

"…_I just don't want to lose you Harry… Well I don't love you… why did you ruin my life?…"_

The phantom's grip on the lily tightened even more as he recalled how Hermione refused to listen to him and refused to give him a second chance.

"DAMN YOU!" he threw the lily down to the ground and rose, like a tower over the gravestone.

"So, it is to be war between us, is it not?"

With a sudden impulse, he rose his wand and blew Mr. Granger's gravestone to dust.

"If it's a war you want, it's a war you'll get."

.oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo.

I'm sorry that it took so long to post, but I hope you like the chapter!


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